Ministry ignored leaking buildings as school for years - Hutt Valley High principal

Monday, 12 April 2021

Hutt Valley High School was the victim of a cyberattack last year.

Hutt Valley High School’s acting principal says the Ministry of Education has failed to act on the school’s leaking buildings which they have known about for years.

Some Hutt Valley High School students will spend half of their time studying from home next term after the school’s toxic mould problem was found in more classrooms.

The Lower Hutt school shut eight classrooms last month after unsafe levels of black mould were discovered in the school’s Block C, forcing some classes to be held in the hall and library.

Acting principal Denise Johnson told Radio New Zealand the ministry had known for some time it would cost millions of dollars to address leaking buildings which had led to the mould issues.

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No funding had been forthcoming despite the school fighting the ministry to fix the issues for a decade.

'I'm beyond angry, I'm upset.

“You can't do what you can't do without the money that you're not given,” she said.

Mould can grow on water-damaged building materials, and certain types, such as black mould (Stachybotrys chartarum), produce toxic spores which have been linked to serious respiratory illnesses. (File photo)

However, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said Hutt Valley High was one of several schools around the country “in bad shape” that needed building pulled down.

“I wouldn’t say the ministry [of education] has let them down, I would say the system overall has not done a good job of managing school property.”

The Government was currently spending on unprecedented sum of upgrading school property but there remained “legacy issues”, he said.

In a letter to parents on Monday, Johnson said a lack of available learning space meant older students would be required to shift to part-time remote learning from term two. Term one ends on April 16, the new term starts on May 3.

“This was in response to the mould found, initially in C Block and now in other areas of the school,” the letter said.

“The immediate issue is that we can not fit classes into the reduced number of rooms we currently have.”

Year 12 and 13 students would be spending 2½ days a week at school and the remaining time participating in online lessons taken by their teachers. Younger students’ classes would remain at the school.

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Year 12 student Luke Thompson said he and his friends were concerned studying from home could mean their results might suffer, which could have implications on university entrance and for scholarships.

He said not having direct access to teachers would cause problems.

“If I get stuck I’m going to have to either wait until the next day or for [my teacher] to respond to an email.”

He hoped the school would be able to arrange for alterative learning spaces where they could interact with teachers in person.

Rachel Webb, the parent of a year 12 student hoped that in their “final crucial years” of high school students would be given additional support to work from home.

“Ideally they’d be learning at school with their classmates and teachers. Hopefully it won’t have a detrimental affect, but everyone will just have to box on and deal with it.”

In her letter, Johnson said a preliminary learning-from-home day would take place on April 14, so teachers could plan for next term.

Parent of a year 9 student, Corinne Glenn, was not impressed with the late notice given about the planning day. Given the extraordinary circumstances, she questioned why teachers couldn’t be paid overtime.

“To get fewer than 48 hours just seems completely unreasonable.”

Johnson has not responded to requests for an interview with Stuff since the mould problems were first reported.

She sent a letter to parents last week explaining that in addition to the mould in Block C, water had got into the school’s dance room which would be closed until it dried out. Water damage had also been discovered and repaired in Block B. It is unclear if these issues were the “other areas” mentioned in the most recent letter.

Mould can grow on water-damaged building materials, and certain types, such as black mould (Stachybotrys chartarum), have been linked to serious respiratory illnesses.

The Ministry of Education has been approached for comment.